Ex Alan Yau team to open premium Chinese restaurant and delivery concept The Red Duck in Balham 

November 27, 2020

The huge demand for small fitted neighbourhood restaurants was immediatley apparent when we brought this to the market. Having received a dozen or so very strong offers the bidding was competitive and MKR are delighted to have secured a premium in excess of £100,000 and to such a great operator. The Red Duck will no doubt be a huge success in Balham. They are certainly not short of experience haing been involved in Alan Yau's Park Chinois, Duck+Rice, Princi etc. 

Our pleasure Balham :)

Hot Dinner January 2021:

We've already been hearing good things from readers about The Red Duck, which opened quietly as delivery-only pre-Christmas (with a restaurant to follow).  

It's run by Chi San, who's worked in the restaurant industry for 30 years before opening this Balham spot, pulling together chefs with a lot of experience in Chinese cooking to offer something new for a neighbourhood restaurant. They say that: "witnessing the intricate craft of Chinese cooking becoming lost, Chi’s ambition was to carry forward the important teachings of Chinese cooking." To that end, the goal is to also focus on training junior apprentices to build up knowledge of the cooking techniques. 

Sourcing is at the heart of the food here - either locally or direct from Japan and here's a taster of the menu:

Stir-Fried Beef with Ginger & Spring Onion (made with a 35-day dry-aged rib eye from HG Walter)
Crispy Aromatic Duck (which has a 24-hour prep process, with the duck from family-owned Silver Hill farm in Northern Ireland)
Jasmine Tea Smoked Ribs (smoked with jasmine tea before being grilled with a honey glaze)
Satay Chicken (made from corn-fed poussin)
Vegetarian dishes include Salt and Pepper Tofu, 3 Mushroom Fried Rice, Hakka Paneer or Vermicelli, Beansprout and Peanut Salad.
Andreja Corokalo is looking after drinks, with a wine list that focuses on low intervention and organic wines from independent and family-owned producers, while cocktails include Whiskey Highballs and bespoke bottled drinks. "Wild Sodas" are also made on-site, with ingredients like basil, elderflower, garden herbs and berries.

Once the restaurant opens to the public, it's all based around a small open kitchen in a two-level space - with booths downstairs and outside seating too. 

All in all, it sounds well worth trying a delivery if you're in the area, while we're waiting to be allowed back into restaurants.  

https://theredduck.co.uk